Stock market today: Indian equity benchmark indices, BSE Sensex and Nifty50, plunged in trade on Tuesday, with the NSE Nifty 50 index and the S&P BSE Sensex both declining by 0.85% and 0.87%, respectively. The primary driver of the losses was HDFC Bank, the most heavily weighted stock in the Nifty 50, which fell by 3.4%. While BSE Sensex ended the day at 78,956.03, down 693 points, Nifty50 closed the day at 24,139.00, down 208 points.
MSCI, a global indexes provider, increased the proportion of HDFC Bank’s shares available for purchase by foreign investors. However, contrary to market expectations of a single adjustment in August, the changes will be implemented in two stages, in August and November. As a result, brokerage firm Nuvama revised its earlier prediction of inflows into HDFC Bank from $3.2 billion-$4 billion to $1.8 billion for August.
The decline in HDFC Bank’s stock also negatively impacted the financial and banking sectors, which shed 1.9% and 1.5%, respectively.
Additionally, investors became increasingly cautious due to geopolitical risks in the Middle East and concerns over the U.S. economy, leading to intensified profit booking across various sectors.
According to Reuters, Siddharth Sedani, an equity analyst at Anand Rathi Financial Services, warned that “volatility and selling pressure could rise in the next few sessions, depending on the quality of U.S. macro data.”
Investors are closely monitoring U.S. producer price data, set to be released after Indian market hours, and consumer price data, scheduled for Wednesday, to gauge the timing and magnitude of potential rate cuts and assess the overall health of the U.S. economy.
Twelve out of the thirteen major sectors on the Indian stock market experienced losses during the day. However, consumer firm Marico gained 2.1% after resuming its manufacturing operations in Bangladesh, while Dixon Tech and Oil India rose by approximately 2.6% and 3%, respectively, following their inclusion in the MSCI emerging markets index.